I spend a weekend for leisure in Gdańsk. The Hampton is perfectly located, was cheap compared to the other hotels and I had good experience with the brand in Europe, where Hampton are somewhat similar to Hilton Garden Inn.

Check In

Checkin was efficient. The agent was a trainee and needed a bit of guidance but nothing that was an issue. I was given a key as well as explained the breakfast location. 

I did OLCI and had a choice of 2 rooms only. I choosed one on the third floor in a corner, far from the elevators. This proved to be a good idea as the hotel was chocked full.

Room

The room was large, with a very comfortable bed (although a bit high above the floor), a desk with a good chair and a TV.  There are plugs at the desk and at the bedside table.

There was tea and coffee making amenities, a safe and a closet, It does not show in the picture but there is a small corridor to enter the room. Only the corner room will have that design and space, the regular one are a bit smaller. 

Two bottles of water were waiting for me and as usual with Hampton, there is no mini bar in the room.

The bathroom was fine, a bit small compared to the room but that did not bother me. The amenities were standard. I liked the shower cubicle. I know this design is controversial here; put me in the camp of those who likes it. I did not flood my bathroom when I was showering. Good pressure and easy temperature control. The bathroom has its own temperature control, independent from the room AC.

The AC was the main negative point of this room. It was hard to get it to maintain the room at 19 degrees. Not sure whether there was central heating on (in July ??) or if the building isolation is poor but the room had a tendency to heat up. Note the external temperature was cool during my stay (15 degrees and raining).

Service

Service was good, the reception desk staff was very helpful and proactive and the barmaid really nice.

The breakfast was fairly good but with  several negative points. I was happy with the choices and quality for the hot dishes, bread and dairy. However the cold cuts and fruit choices was much more limited. The charcuterie was not very appealing and I suspect of very poor quality. There was not enough fruits also, not even a fruit salad.

Also the main major problem of breakfast is the design of the area. The buffet is accessible via a narrow entrance and is cramped when the hotel is full, as it was. There was not enough table either and the staff had to open an adjacent meeting room to accommodate for the amount of guests present.

There is gym on the second floor: no window and dark, small and with the minimum equipment.

Location

The hotel is dead set in the middle of the old town, a few minutes away from the main gates and Artur court. The train station is eight minutes away by foot, on rugged and paved sidewalks. 

From the airport the bus leaves you at the train station. Taxis and Uber are a good alternative although the Uber pick up point at the hotel is not directly in front.

When I found that within the city itself, that there were 2 Hilton properties, I decided to split my stay between the Hampton and the Hilton.  When I booked this property, the rates were very reasonable and therefore decided to do 2 nights here and the last 2 at the Hilton.  (I did consider the Hampton property at the airport, but decided to just go into the city on arrival).

From my stay, I found out that this property location used to house a cinema - but it was torn down completely and this property was rebuilt on the same location (There's a nice short film on this at the hotel).  The interior decoration is very focused on the history of it and also of the city itself. 

Location

The property in my opinion is located at a much more covenient location from transportation point of view (especially public) compared to the Hilton. However due to this, there's very limited nice views from the rooms.  Locating this property could be a challenge - depending the direction of walking towards this property.  If coming with the airport bus, from the nearest bus stop to the bus stop, the walk is about 10-15 mins - should be doable even with larger luggage (with wheels) as it's all flat surface walking (if using the road level) - walking towards the shopping area, would mean using the underground pedestrian pass and this involves steps. 

It is situation close to both the famous Dulga street (just around the corner) and 2 streets away, Mariacka street (famous for the Amber shops and the rain water sprouts).  In general, every thing that a tourist comes to Gdansk for is situated < 15-20 mins walk from this property.  

Also in this time of the year, the Christmas market is just around the corner (compared to about 15-20 mins if staying at the Hilton) 

Check In

I arrived close to midnight - coming in via the side entrance (which you will need to use the bell for reception at all times) - to as expected an empty lobby.  I had already done an online-check-in, but as the norm in current times, both paperwork and proof of vaccination needs to be shown at check-in.

I did enquire also about better rooms (I had already booked a queen with sofa(bed)) - and was told that the hotel is quite full (was not expecting a suite - thought I believe that they do have a sort of studio like room, just better view) - and she started looking at her copy of her hotel map and she suggested the room with a view towards (what I later found out the next morning) the main entrance of the hotel.  It was basically facing a square/parking area and looked towards buildings across this square.  I don't know what other better views there are at this property.  Breakfast location and timing was informed and I was sent away to my room.  Sadly this was one of the only Hilton property in Poland so far that did not provide a welcome drink to elite members.

Room

To use the elevators to your room, key card access is needed for your floor.  I was given a room on the 5th floor.  The room size was slightly larger than some of the other Hampton Inn's I've stayed around in Europe and also in Warsaw.  From decoration point, the room was minimalistic.  There was already 2 bottles of water provided for all guests (so not part of the elite amenity).  

Other than that, tea/coffee making facilities were made available with real cups/mugs.  Internet speed was ok - although at some locations of the hotel - it was rather weak - but sufficient for conference calls in my case. (it was a mix of work/leisure trip).

The bathroom was like most other Hampton's in Europe, except I found the one at this property to have a slightly better design.  Toiletries were the same as other properties in Europe. Temperature and pressure of the water was good.  

Climate control in the room was good - managed to keep the room at a stable temperature.  Sleep quality was good - with a very good dark out cutrain.  The bed was just right - and interior/exterior noise level was non existence.  All in all, a good room.  

View from the room

Breakfast

As expected, the breakfast offerings were very good (for a Hampton and even better than your average property in other European countries).  There were lots of hot and cold options with lots of local dishes - which was tasty and changed on both the days I was there.

What was nice was that they did have the waffle machine - normally guests would have to make it when they want - but this of course is not the most convenient since you have to wait and can lead to long lines - at this property, they did have someone make them, so you can just grab one to go.  

They also made sure that tables were properly cleaned with what I would say a team of cleaning crew on standby to clean a table as soon as they saw that a guest is done with the table - which was quite interesting to watch how hawk eyed they were in this.  

Service

Service in general was friendly and professional.  I was also happy to see that housekeeping is available without it being on request - which lots of properties these days are using the pandamic as an excuse to cut down on it.

Gym

I did have quick peak into the gym area - located on the 3rd floor of the property - it was located just as you come out from the lift.  So the only downside is that you will get quite a lot of distraction as it's an open concept place with floor to ceiling glass.  From what I saw from equipment-wise, it was quite well equipped with both cardio and muscle equipments.

Overall

All in all, a very good stay and certainly great value for money.  If they can slightly up their elite benefits, this would make this a top Hampton inn property (at least in Europe.  I would certainly return to this property if I am in the area - depending on what my priorities are when in the area - both Hilton properties have their pros and cons.